


ICONIC: Lifestyles of the Rich and Fearless

by raikotoho



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Article format, Gen, Humor, Parahumans Zine, Siblings, Team as Family, Team is family, unmasked capes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:34:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28176969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raikotoho/pseuds/raikotoho
Summary: December 7, 2009Young, bold, and talented—these kids are making their mark. Teen heirs Gabriel, Owen, and Olivia Delaunay allow a glimpse into the dazzling day-to-day of Danbury’s newest hero team, Icon.
Kudos: 4





	ICONIC: Lifestyles of the Rich and Fearless

**Author's Note:**

> My piece for the Parahumans Fanzine, in collaboration with Elle. [Check out the photos for this article here.](https://elle-arts.tumblr.com/post/637963489319731200/some-illustrations-i-did-for-an-in-universe)
> 
> Or, you can download the zine for free and view the fully formatted piece, in addition to over 150 pages of art and writing from 36 amazing creators. [Find the link on their tumblr here.](https://parahumanzine.tumblr.com/post/636685203187892224/the-time-has-come-thanks-to-all-the-contributors)

**On a snowy Saturday morning,** Owen Delaunay spends two minutes unlocking the front door before showing me into the family manor. “Need to debug the cryptograph,” he explains. “I can’t disarm it right now so make sure you don’t step on anything burlywood-colored.”

One glance at the foyer will tell you that the Delaunays are quite well-off. There’s dark wood paneling the walls and a candle chandelier; three hallways lead to separate wings and the wide staircase climbs two stories up. The foyer is tiled with pale marble. Despite having never seen a burlywood, I arrive safely at a sitting room, where I’m greeted by the remaining Delaunay siblings. Gabriel Delaunay, the oldest, is still in high school, though he turns eighteen next January. Owen and Olivia are a year younger—twins. The three have been heroes for as long as eleven months, operating independently across the New York metropolitan area.

> **_Domino Magazine:_ ** _So, give me the rundown. Cape name, powers, one fun fact._
> 
> **_Owen Delaunay:_ ** _Oh no._
> 
> **_Olivia Delaunay:_ ** _I’m Galatea. My power has a couple of parts: a minor thinker rating that lets me know when I’m being watched, and I have a…let’s call it a signal flare that gets people’s attention and makes anyone looking at me freeze for like, a second. I can run a mile in stilettos._
> 
> **_DM:_ ** _Are you sure that’s not your real power?_
> 
> **_OL:_ ** _[laughs] It’s a valuable skill that anyone can learn. Your turn, Gabe._
> 
> **_Gabriel Delaunay:_ ** _Gargoyle. I turn into a different form with thick skin and some enhanced abilities. I think they call it shifter or…_
> 
> **_DM:_ ** _Changer._
> 
> **_GD:_ ** _That’s the one. And I have a sandwich named after me at the deli downtown._
> 
> **_DM:_ ** _Nice! Owen?_
> 
> **_OW:_ ** _Okay, I’m Talos. I’m a tinker who specializes in fortifications._
> 
> **_DM:_ ** _And your fun fact?_
> 
> **_OW:_ ** _I’m, ah, I don’t—I can never think of a good one._
> 
> **_OL:_ ** _Favorite jellybean flavor._
> 
> **_OW:_ ** _Blueberry. Oh god! That’s so boring._

Olivia tells me she was the first to venture out in costume, after discovering her powers on a ski trip. “I actually made an appearance at the resort in Utah,” she says. “I don’t expect anything’s been connected to me, though. There are a lot of people running around ski resorts with masks on.” Sure enough, the area has no record of any cape activity at the time, and as a rookie, she went relatively unnoticed for several months. She was fairly cautious starting out, Olivia remembers. She had to learn how to take advantage of an ability unsuited to combat. Galatea is, however, credited by the NYPD with a few dozen solo takedowns, primarily non-parahumans with no gang affiliation, and made a name for herself last April with a key role in resolving the Ulysses S. Grant High School shooting. “That was kind of a wake-up call. I saw how much more effective I could be,” Olivia says. “I collaborated more with other teams, and started thinking about starting one myself.” Did she consider _joining_ a team, the Wards or an independent group? “I did, and I have nothing but good things to say about the heroes I worked with, but I hadn’t found that perfect fit.”

It was around this time, in the summer of 2009, that an enigmatic new hero came onto the scene. He quickly gained legendary status, partly from the sheer frequency of his fights, but mostly because he never spoke and always vanished before law enforcement could arrive. Gabriel denies deliberately cultivating this air of mystery. “I certainly had some fun with it,” he admits. “But the truth is, I stayed transformed every time I went on patrol, and my changer form just isn’t capable of speech.” The wrong kind of vocal cords, apparently, though he also jokes that the extra teeth would probably give him a terrible lisp. His bestial appearance combined with the inability to introduce himself gave him the nickname Gargoyle, which he eventually adopted in an official capacity. Gabriel says that he wouldn’t have chosen the name, “but I’ve been told I don’t have the best judgement in that department.” Olivia and Owen happily volunteer that as a boy, Gabriel named his puppy Eidoglon. He still stands by it. “It’s an honor,” he insists. “I would love it if someone called their pet Dogoyle.”

Their names aren’t quite that well-known yet—Talos, especially. Unlike his siblings, Owen did not start his career as a solo cape. “Tinkers need a bit more, you know, a bit more prep time than most,” he explains. “I got powers before Olivia, even, but I spent all that time working on building something I could take into the field.” Gathering materials wasn’t such an issue, but he had to fight against his specialty. Despite a broad range of effects, the practical applications were limited: “I was having such a hard time getting anything portable,” Owen says, sighing. He debuted only five weeks ago under the umbrella of their team, Icon, when the siblings went public with their civilian names.

> **_Domino Magazine:_ ** _Let’s talk a bit about Icon. How did you decide to form the team? When did you tell each other about your powers?_
> 
> **_Gabriel Delaunay:_ ** _I’d say it was less tell, more show._
> 
> **_DM:_ ** _Oh?_
> 
> **_Olivia Delaunay:_ ** _Well, I didn’t expect to need my costume for a trip to Danbury Fair…_
> 
> **_DM:_ ** _Wait, hang on. Was this on the day of the attack?_
> 
> **_OL:_ ** _Right. So when the Teeth barricaded themselves in the restaurant I really just went for it._
> 
> **_Owen Delaunay:_ ** _Without telling us first, as Gabe mentioned._
> 
> **_OL:_ ** _I knew they’d try to stop me if I gave them any warning. My power is good at drawing fire, so I had to get away from the crowd._
> 
> **_DM:_ ** _Sounds a little risky for someone without a brute rating._
> 
> **_OL:_ ** _I had something in mind for that, but luckily Gargoyle intervened before I had to use it._
> 
> **_GD:_ ** _I did warn Owen first, by the way._
> 
> **_OL:_ ** _Square._
> 
> **_DM:_ ** _And Owen, how did you react to both your siblings revealing their superpowers right in front of you?_
> 
> **_OW:_ ** _I was just like, I can’t sit in the corner while those two are fighting the freakin’ Teeth! And I had my prototype laser grid matrix on me, which I hadn’t thought was ready to use, but it turns out bullets make a really good case for field testing._
> 
> **_OL:_ ** _Once Talos had the civilians protected, it was pretty easy to wrap up._
> 
> **_DM:_ ** _And, just to be clear—in the course of one afternoon, you all went from having no idea that the others were capes to announcing your new team at a press conference._
> 
> **_OL:_ ** _[laughs] What can I say? We get things done._
> 
> **_DM:_ ** _Well, Icon is certainly on the list of capes to watch. Some people are even calling you the new New Wave._
> 
> **_GD:_ ** _So, I’m sure you would agree that we’ve been—_
> 
> **_OW:_ ** _Gabe—_
> 
> **_GD:_ ** _—making waves?_
> 
> **_OL/OW:_ ** _GABRIEL!_

New Wave—an extended family turned powerhouse cape team, living unmasked in nearby Brockton Bay. Operating on a platform of transparency, the movement lost its impact when one of their members was killed. So does Icon have any concerns about giving up the protection of secret identities? Evidently not. Owen enthusiastically tells me that the grounds have been extensively modified—in addition to defenses against large-scale attacks and natural disasters, he’s built up layers of internal security to prevent unauthorized entry. “It’s a challenge,” he says, “with everything that parahumans are, or might be, capable of. But it’s also a lot of fun to work on. I’m always upgrading the system with new sensors and takedown options.” When I ask what would happen if I stepped on a burlywood tile, Olivia interrupts the answer to suggest I would be happier not knowing. Helpfully, she also identifies the color so I can avoid finding out. None of the siblings seem fazed by the idea of living inside a building riddled with ambiguously hazardous traps. You get used to it, apparently.

“They’re going to do something incredible.” Michael Delaunay calls me from his corner office at Gallerie, Inc. to tell me what he thinks of his children’s new venture. “I’ve taught the boys how to run a business,” —a cape team, he believes, _is_ a business— “and I fully expect that Icon will prove a worthwhile endeavor.” It’ll be good experience for the future: Delaunay plans to keep Gallerie in the family, and sees no reason why his heir couldn’t manage both the team and the company. “My children have already proven that cape activities will not distract from their education or their futures,” he says. It’s a shame about the football, though.

Gabriel excels at football. He shows me a shelf lined with MVP trophies and a massive award for leading the Wooster Generals to an undefeated season his junior year. The sport, he adds, has made him a local legend and immortalized him at Earl’s Deli, but he’s no longer allowed to play it. In fact, the team was forced to drop out of the 2009 season after Gargoyle’s unmasking, which was understandably discouraging. “On the bright side,” he says, “I have time to try new things.” Gabriel fences now—not competitively, unless you count his training rivalry with Olivia. He takes down the fully sharpened sword mounted next to the trophy shelf and challenges me to a duel, which, naturally, I refuse.

(A few days later, I contact Wooster School’s Coach August Witt for the details, and learn that the entire incident is “total bull.” He tells me that at the high school level, there’s no regulation against parahumans competing in sports—only the use of parahuman powers is prohibited. “Gabe was good before he got powers. He says he never used them during games, and I believe him,” Witt declares. “I’ve seen pictures of Gargoyle, anyway, and the refs would definitely have noticed.” But other schools complained about the possibility, so Gabriel had to go. The Generals have, however, managed to hold onto Owen for next year. “We need at least one Delaunay on the team, and I don’t care what anyone says. If that kid wanted to cheat, he’d figure out how to do it whether he’s playing or not.”)

What other changes have public identities brought to their civilian lives? “They pay a lot more attention, for a start.” That’s something Olivia knows for a fact, no matter how cool her audience plays it. “Everything I do has weight to it,” she admits, “but honestly, it’s not as different as you might expect.” She still shops at Danbury Fair, still attends student council meetings, still rides horses and posts selfies and dances at charity galas. To Olivia, after living a double life for almost a year, unmasking is not so much worlds colliding as cars merging into traffic. Owen, on the other hand, has moved closer to the hero side of things. He prefers to spend his time tinkering—when he’s not redesigning the manor systems, he’s working with community leaders to upgrade security in local businesses and public spaces. Wearable tech is shelved for now, with teammates to watch his back in the field, though he hasn’t given up on it entirely.

Despite their notable impact on the high school sports scene, Icon’s presence in Danbury is undeniably positive. Crime has always been low in the area, coming from unpowered lawbreakers and the occasional villain passing through; now, between Talos’ hard work and regular street patrols, the town is safer than ever. These days, most of the action takes place in New York City, where there’s plenty of work to go around, and plenty of opportunities to work with other heroes.

Paladin, leader of Lightspeed Entertainment’s Team Constant, emails me about her experience fighting alongside Icon. “The thing that stands out the most,” she writes, “is their precision. Those tactics don’t leave a lot of room for mistakes, so you can’t go in unprepared unless you want to get caught in the middle.” She means Galatea’s “signal flare” specifically, which will stop enemies and allies alike. But that isn’t to say that team-ups are impossible: Paladin attests that with time to set up and strategize, Icon is a force you want on your side. “They specialize in protecting civilians, if they can’t be evacuated for whatever reason. Sometimes we run into that kind of situation, where the villains are digging in and the danger isn’t immediate, and we’ll invite Icon to lend a hand. They always rise to the challenge.”

> **_Olivia Delaunay:_ ** _I actually had my first run-in with Constant…it must have been my second month out. Paladin definitely got caught in my power a few times so it’s nice to hear she has such a high opinion now._
> 
> **_Domino Magazine:_ ** _Tell me more about these tactics she mentioned. Is it like, an overall fighting style, or is there a particular incident you could talk about?_
> 
> **_OL:_ ** _Well, we’re all suited to different things so I guess you could say we have a style. Mostly it’s about timing and coordination, and there are a few setups that we practice specifically._
> 
> **_Owen Delaunay:_ ** _But when we’re teaming up, we have to figure stuff out beforehand, so we can let everyone else know what to expect when someone says, I dunno. Blueberry forty-two or whatever._
> 
> **_DM:_ ** _So who makes the calls? Gabriel, putting that quarterback experience to use?_
> 
> **_Gabriel Delaunay:_ ** _[laughs] Sure, I have the experience, but it’d be a tough game if the quarterback couldn’t talk._
> 
> **_DM:_ ** _Oh! Right, of course._
> 
> **_GD:_ ** _I do help out with the pre-battle strategies, though, and with the signals and formations._
> 
> **_OW:_ ** _The last part’s a team effort. We’re always changing the signals and formations. Gotta keep ’em guessing._
> 
> **_OL:_ ** _It’s a lot of prep work, but it pays off._
> 
> **_DM:_ ** _It really does! Icon has gone a long way in such a short time. So now that you’re established as a team, what do you have planned for the future?_
> 
> **_GD:_ ** _Merchandise!_
> 
> **_OL:_ ** _That’s a joke._
> 
> **_GD:_ ** _Wishful thinking, really._
> 
> **_OL:_ ** _I’m looking forward to visiting other cities, maybe expanding our reach a little, and meeting new heroes. I think getting that kind of experience is a great way to learn, and cooperation is so important to what we do._
> 
> **_OW:_ ** _And it’s still a little early to announce, but I’m close to a breakthrough on my latest project, so you might see something big coming up in the next few months._
> 
> **_OL:_ ** _Basically, we’re just getting started._

∞


End file.
